Book Review
Disclaimer: This review is
part of the blog tour of The Book Club and all the details of the book can be
found here.
Blurb:
I was addicted. To him.
Anjana Narendra just can’t
keep her head straight when it comes to the nation’s heartthrob, cricket
vice-captain Avinash Katagi. The mere sight of him sets the heart of this
thirty-one-year-old television journalist pounding, and fills her stomach with
butterflies. He seems smitten too – taking her out for romantic walks in the
botanical gardens, appearing by her side when she has a road accident, knocking
on her door in the middle of the night. Even as Anjana is swept off her feet
into a whirlwind romance, the reporter within her sniffs out the biggest scoop
of the season. All too soon, she is neck-deep in trouble with her bosses and
the cricket board, struggling to make sense of the sordid world of steroids and
celebs. Will anjana give up the delicious young man she is hooked on to? And
does she even want to? Sinful and alluring, Delirium is a heady cocktail of
intrigue, temptation and betrayal.
My Review
Delirium is a story set in the
backdrop of two highly glamorous professions—cricket in India and journalism and deals with common human emotions.
Add to it Sowmya Aji’s writing style and the recipe for a fantastic, page
turner is complete. After a very long time I have read a book in one sitting,
till the wee hours of the morning.
Anjana is an ambitious
journalist moving up the ladder of her career with sheer intelligence and hard work,
looking for that ultimate scoop to further her career. She meets the
vice-captain of Indian cricket team, main strike bowler, handsome, reticent
Avinash. There is something dazzling about the fast bowlers, and the two that I
pictured were Kapil Dev and Imran Khan, the fast bowlers.
The cricket world is full of
rumours about players taking drugs and steroids to boost their performance on
the field. It is this scoop Anjana has been tasked to unearth. The charm of the
handsome cricket-star works on her as Avinash gives her exclusive attention as
she covers the ODI series news. During her investigations and follow-ups, a
much-married Anajna falls for Avinash.
But things are not what they
seem on the surface, Avinash is about to be engaged to someone else. As she
gets into the story of drug abuse, with BCCI and other officials denying the
problem, one player agrees to give an exclusive interview on the condition of anonymity
and Anjana falls deeper into professional and personal mess.
Sowmya Aji has movingly captured
the dilemma of a married woman falling for nation’s heart-throb. Especially
when he is the one who chases her, Anjana couldn’t deny him. Kudos to the way
Aji has written Anjana’s character that I never felt she was on the wrong. In
fact she invoked sympathy and compassion. Avinash’s is a typical gifted man, who
finds himself riding a tiger and racing on the road to success, if he dared to
get off the failure is guaranteed.
The whole book is from Anjana’s
point of view, her attraction to the icon, her resistance to that attraction and
then finally succumbing to it. The day to day humdrum in a journalist’s world is
eloquently portrayed and I relished the confidence with which Anjana handled
the questioning by BCCI officials.
The secondary characters added
to the story; Kartik, who is Anjana's best friend. Junaid, Ravi,
Mangal, her office team. Coming to the most complex character her husband
Narendra, or shall I say the most mature one. Though Aji has not dwelled on
their relationship a lot, but she had dropped hints about Naren all along—he is eight years older than Anjana, he has allowed Anjana to do whatever she
wanted, a generous and confident man. To give him benefit of doubt I think he
suspected the affair, but didn’t want to react either ways. He wanted it to be her
decision and perhaps he understood the fascination and magnetism of a celebrity.
I loved the way the soul of
various Indian cities is shown, the taxi driver suggesting Anjana to take the local
train in Mumbai, was hilarious.
Delirium is a fast paced,
extremely engaging novel, leaving the readers to interpret and think about the
lives of the protagonists. With her debut book Sowmya Aji has done a fantastic
job with words. I look forward to other such treats from her. In few weeks I am going to read the book again at a slower pace.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
I love day-dreaming and my
close friends in this endless activity include Hamlet, Howard Roark, Absolem,
Miss Marple, Elizabeth Bennett, Katniss Everdeen, Holly Short, Sirus Black,
Gimli and Septimus Heap.. occasionally, Saphira also :) Otherwise, I am a
serious hard-nosed print journalist who writes about politics, social issues
and culture.
I've spent most of my life
reading and writing.. I also love movies, dance, theatre, music, trekking,
yoga.. I tried my hand at Russian and French and remember Rooski Izink Nimnoga
and je sais un peu de Francaise .. (I bet I got that wrong).. but the latest
language I picked up, Spanish, is very close to my heart, as I want to read
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's yellow butterflies in Espanol.. I speak, read and
write three Indian languages -- Kannada, Hindi, Tamil .. and my masters is in
English, so I obviously love language and communication.
I also love knitting and I
hate cooking :) I'm trying very hard to be good at a new job -- parenting -- to
my three-year-old, but boy, is that the toughest job!
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